• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.52-56
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• 2002

Synthesis of unsymmetrical trisannelated benzenes such as 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11-decahydro-1H-cyclopenta[l]phenanthrene (1c) and 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10-decahydrobenz[e]-as-indacene (1d) is described. The synthetic approach involves efficient condensation of pre-formed enones such as bicyclohexyliden-2-one (3), bicyclohexyl-1-en-2-one (4) and bicyclopentyliden-2-one (5) in the presence of cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone using anhydrous $CuCl_2$ as a catalyst.